The many needs for protection of the human ear have spawned numerous inventions for specific purposes. However none of the prior art discloses ear plugs that can easily fit into a wallet.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,568,395 to Tiemens (2003) discloses a multiple ear plug arrangement that cuts an extrusion into a chain of at least ten ear plugs. The purpose is to enable low cost manufacture and storage of ear plugs and convenient dispensing of individual ear plugs. The chain of ear plugs is stored in a plurality of loops in a container. The extrusion can include a stiffening core.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,761,173 to Kuno, et al. (2004) discloses a vented ear plug with a communicating passage or vent for decreasing the pressure difference between the inside of the external auditory canal and the external atmosphere.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,761,173 to Hiselius, et al. (2004) discloses a sound-attenuating ear plug, with foil which is rounded in the longitudinal direction and which is extended transversely of this longitudinal direction and is responsible for the major part of the sound-attenuating effect. The invention also relates to a method of manufacturing such an ear plug.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,996,584 to Oliveira, et al. (1999) discloses a reusable ear plug, formed from a core, about which is adhered a strip of slow recovery foam. After each use of the device, the strip of foam is generally removed and discarded; typically, a new strip is applied the next time the device is used.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,957,136 to Magidson, et al. (1999) discloses a hollow ear plug with an insertion member.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,745 to Mobley, et al. (1998) discloses a pressure regulating ear plug for regulating the rate of change of pressure inside an ear. Disposed within the ear plug is a pressure regulator with a slow leak rate. The pressure regulator is preferably made of a porous ceramic material.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,731 to Dickman (1995) discloses a flexible, disposable ear plug which is capable of decreasing humidity levels from the environment within the inner ear of a user. The ear plug includes a resilient hygroscopic body and a removable integral tip which are both surrounded by a flexible water-proof casing. When the integral tip is removed from the body of the ear plug, a surface of the hygroscopic body of the ear plug is exposed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,153,387 to Zwislocki, et al. (1992) discloses a layered ear plug made of a stack of thin flexible plastic discs bonded together about a central hole and loose at the edges. The purpose is to permit easy insertion and removal from the ear.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,702,238 to Scott (1987) discloses an ear plug for attenuating sound and providing a watertight seal. It is made of closed cell foam to provide a multitude of convex and concave surfaces to reflect, dissipate and attenuate sound waves.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,498,469 to Csiki (1985) discloses an ear plug made of an elastic material enveloped by a deep-drawn sheath of thin flexible plastic film and a stiffer collar or flange. Production of the ear plug includes deep-drawing a thermoplastic film or foil into a sheath and filling the sheath with elastic material.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,434,794 to Leight (1984) discloses an ear plug with a shell formed of closed cell foam material. The shell surface has a multiplicity of small bumps to avoid wrinkling when the shell is squeezed into the ear canal. A stem of resilient material lies freely moveable in the shell, and is short so it extends substantially no further than the open end of the shell.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,344,425 to Strauss (1982) discloses an ear plug with a tacky adhesive surface to help attach the plug in place. Retention of the plug does not rely on friction developed by compression of the body of the plug as it is inserted in the ear canal, and therefore the plug need not fit tightly into the ear canal. In some cases the plug may merely overlie the mouth of the canal. The adhesive surface may be a layer of adhesive applied to a substrate or it may be the surface of a body of plug material which is inherently tacky.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,053,051 to Brinkhoff (1977) discloses a thin sound-attenuating mat of fibers, which forms an earplug that is removable with an inserter from a container to permit insertion of the earplug in an ear by means of the inserter, which is then withdrawn from the plug. The earplug is made by placing a flat fibrous mat against the open end of the container and then pushing it into the container by means of the inserter stem.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,138,790 to Leight (2000) discloses a noise blocking ear plug which has a band with outer portions that are bent to prevent the ear-engaging pods from touching the ground, whether placed right-side-up or upside-down on the ground.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,119,833 to Powers (20) discloses a compressible ear plug that has a cross-section formed by a plurality of three or four sides wherein there is an angle no greater than 90.degree between at least two sets of adjoining sides. In this manner, the plug can be cut from a sheet of material with virtually no waste resulting.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,452 to Powers, et al. (1992) discloses an ear plug assembly made of a pair of plug bodies made from open cell resilient foam material having a slow recovery rate. These are interconnected by a flexible cord having its free ends inserted into preformed holes in the plug bodies before the holes close under the influence of the recovery rate.
The above listed prior art is intended to solve specific needs not related to enabling a very thin ear plug. The following application discloses a multiple-component package that attempts to compress conventional ear plugs and hold them in a compressed state that is suitable for carrying in a wallet, but falls significantly short of that goal.
U.S. provisional patent application 20070074991 by Heisserer (2007) discloses an ear plug package whose purpose is to compressibly and compactly store one or more ear plugs. The ear plug package comprises a base, a body, and a retaining seal. The base is coupled to the body, and the body includes one or more compartments, each adapted to receive and store at least one compressible ear plug. The retaining seal is removable, and may comprise multiple sections, with perforations between sections.
The multiple components increase the cost and complexity of materials and manufacturing. In addition, the bulges on one or more surfaces from the compressed ear plugs or from a vacuum interfere with reading indicia printed on those surfaces. Furthermore, the bulges on the printing surface make it difficult and more costly to custom print indicia after packaging the enclosed ear plugs. If material is used that is sufficiently rigid to compress the ear plugs without forming bulges, the thickness of the package is significantly increased.
The total thickness of the package is a critical shortcoming. The disclosed package can have three layers: a “sturdy, durable” base, a body at least equal in thickness as the practically compressed thickness of a standard ear plug (typically about 0.500 or 13 mm), and a seal layer that is sufficiently sturdy to not bulge too much or have “a deflection of 2.0 mm or less.” Adding the high end of the range of thickness disclosed for the layers results in a package that is 13 mm or over ½ inch thick. The application also says “The overall thickness of (the) package is preferably 8.0 mm or less.” Even if 7 mm was achieved in production, that is still over ¼ inch thick and almost six times as thick as a credit card. Most people would prefer not to stuff an additional item that is over ¼ inch thick into their wallets.